Page 36 of Three Stepbrothers Save Christmas

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Travis

“Why the fuck isn’t he answering?” Ethan yells beside me as I zig-zag through the traffic. My fucking phone has been out of signal most of the morning, so we are only now receiving Ryan’s messages.

“He’s probably focusing on Verity.” I find a gap in the traffic and put my foot down.

“I can’t believe they’ve left already!” Ethan growls as my jaw clenches further. They call themselves parents. Well, I’m fucking done with them both. I’m going to take Verity away from there and make sure no one ever hurts her again. My sweet girl does not deserve this. I’ve been on the fencepost about whether I should act on my feelings or not; well, now I am. This has been the final straw, and I’ll do all I can to ensure my girl is safe and knows she is loved.

What Jason said last night about me being her protector keeps going through my mind. I’m not there protecting her now, and I’ve failed her before we’ve even begun. Well, I’m never failing her again.

“I can,” I snap through gritted teeth. “They knew we would try to stop them or give them a hard time, which is why we were sent on this stupid errand. Verity is a pushover when it comes to her father, and he knows it. He has moulded her that way. He has brought her up to be the perfect little girl who never says no and wants to please. She’ll do anything he says to get his praise and attention.” I glance at my brother, whose face is red with rage. “Why do you think they never told us they were back last week?” I ask, looking back at the road.

“They’ve been back a week!”

I nod as I take the turning that leads us back to the house.

“Yep, I did some digging last night and noticed Mum’s been making payments on her card in the UK. I was going to confront her this afternoon for confirmation before telling you all.” I turn onto the last road to the house before continuing. “I want to know why they think it acceptable to be in the country and not even tell their children. I don’t give a shit, but Verity would have wanted to see Henry, and they know it.”

“Fucking arsehole,” he hisses through his teeth. I nod as the house finally comes into view, and my heart races to get there. I’m terrified of what I’m going to find. But whatever it is, we will all face it together and give Verity all the love and support she needs.

Screeching to a stop in front of the house. Ethan is out of the car before I’ve even turned the engine off. By the time I’m out of the car, he has the front door open.

We rush for the stairs, taking them three at a time, knowing they are in her room.

“No matter what, keep your cool,” I warn quietly as we reach her door.

Ethan nods once as we enter the room.

There, sitting on the bed, is Ryan, next to Verity, who is curled up in the fetal position with her back to him. Ryan places a finger over his lips and stands. When he approaches, I expect him to say she is sleeping.

“Ethan, can you sit with her? She won’t talk or move; she’s shut right down,” he whispers.

“What the fuck happened?” Ethan demands in a harsh whisper.

“I’ll tell you everything; just sit with her while I talk to Trav. I’ve promised we won’t leave her for a moment, so I can only talk to one of you at a time.”

Ethan looks between the two of us, and for a moment, I think he’s going to argue, but then he looks back to Verity, and his face softens as he nods. He walks over and sits on the bed, placing a hand on Verity’s leg. She doesn’t so much as flinch.

“Hey, Baby Girl, how you doing?” he whispers, looking around her, but she doesn’t move or reply. I can’t see her face, but imagine she’s just staring at a wall.

Ryan looks at me and nods towards the hallway. I follow him out and quietly close the door behind us.

“Let’s go to your room,” he whispers, but I shake my head when I point at his clothes.

“You need to change.”

Ryan looks down as if realising his clothes are soaked for the first time. I hear him curse under his breath before nodding and heading to his room.

As soon as we enter, he closes the door behind us and rubs his face.

“Fuck Trav, I have no idea how the hell we’re going to pull her out of this one. She’s beyond broken,” he sighs quietly, rubbing at his face.

“Tell me what happened whilst you get changed, and we will work something out.”

Ryan looks up, nods once and pulls his wet t-shirt off.

“As soon as you left, Mum came out of her room and made a cup of coffee. She asked why I was up, and I said I was going for a run before my Zoom meeting. I didn’t think much of it; I thought it was maybe jetlag or something, which was why she was awake so early. But when I returned from my short run half an hour later, I could hear her and Henry talking.

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